UK HOUSE PRICE GROWTH SLOWEST SINCE JULY 2013
UK house prices grew by 2.5% in the year to December 2018, down from 2.7% in the year to November 2018. This is the lowest annual growth for the UK since July 2013, when house prices increased by 2.3%.
House price growth was strongest in Northern Ireland where prices increased by 5.5% over the year to Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2018. This was followed by Wales and the West Midlands region, both increasing by 5.2% in the year to December 2018. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices fell by 1.0% over the year to December 2018, down from an increase of 1.7% in November 2018. This was followed by London where prices fell 0.6% over the year. London house prices have been falling over the year each month since July 2018.
Full report on the Gov.uk website.
Alastair McKee, Managing Director of One77 Mortgages, commented:
“A rather predictable and anticlimactic end to an erratic year where UK house price growth is concerned and the lowest rate of growth in over five and a half years will probably come as less of a shock than it may have six to 12 months.
Of course, this muted activity will have been heightened by the seasonal wind-down, however, it demonstrates the detrimental impact our current political limbo is having on consumer sentiment on both sides of the buyer-seller fence.
But credit where it’s due, the market has certainly put up a fight and weathered all that has been thrown at it to at least finish within broad expectations at 2.5% annual growth. There are also other positives to take, with transaction levels exceeding that of last year and we’ve certainly noticed an uplift in buyer enquiries early on in 2019 which bodes well for the year ahead.”
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